Chapter I: Front Matter

RED ROCK

A CHRONICLE OF RECONSTRUCTION

RED ROCK

_A CHRONICLE OF RECONSTRUCTION_

BY

THOMAS NELSON PAGE

_ILLUSTRATED BY B. WEST CLINEDINST_

NEW YORK

CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS

1899

COPYRIGHT, 1898, BY

CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS

TROW DIRECTORY
PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANY
NEW YORK

To

F. L. P.

_AN OLD-FASHIONED LADY_

_PREFACE_

_The Region where the Grays and Carys lived lies too far from the centres of modern progress to be laid down on any map that will be accessible. And, as “he who maps an undiscovered country may place what boundaries he will,” it need only be said, that it lies in the South, somewhere in that vague region partly in one of the old Southern States and partly in the yet vaguer land of Memory. It will be spoken of in this story, as Dr. Cary, General Legaie, and the other people who used to live there in old times, spoke of it, in warm affection, as, “the old County,” or, “the Red Rock section,” or just, “My country, sir.”_

_It was a goodly land in those old times—a rolling country, lying at the foot of the blue mountain-spurs, with forests and fields; rich meadows filled with fat cattle; watered by streams, sparkling and bubbling over rocks, or winding under willows and sycamores, to where the hills melted away in the low, alluvial lands, where the sea once washed and still left its memory and its name._

_The people of that section were the product of a system of which it is the fashion nowadays to have only words of condemnation. Every ass that passes by kicks at the dead lion. It was an Oligarchy, they say, which ruled and lorded it over all but those favored ones who belonged to it. But has one ever known the members of a Democracy to rule so justly? If they shone in prosperity, much more they shone in adversity; if they bore themselves haughtily in their day of triumph, they have borne defeat with splendid fortitude. Their old family seats, with everything else in the world, were lost to them—their dignity became grandeur. Their entire system crumbled and fell about them in ruins—they remained unmoved. They were subjected to the greatest humiliation of modern times: their slaves were put over them—they reconquered their section and preserved the civilization of the Anglo-Saxon._

_No doubt the phrase “Before the war” is at times somewhat abused. It is just possible that there is a certain Caleb Osbaldistonism in the speech at times. But for those who knew the old County as it was then, and can contrast it with what it has become since, no wonder it seems that even the moonlight was richer and mellower “before the war” than it is now. For one thing, the moonlight as well as the sunlight shines brighter in our youth than in maturer age; and gold and gossamer amid the rose-bowers reflect it better than serge and crêpe amid myrtles and bays. The great thing is not to despond even though the brilliancy be dimmed: in the new glitter one need not necessarily forget the old radiance. Happily, when one of the wise men insists that it shall be forgotten, and that we shall be wise also, like him, it works automatically, and we know that he is one of those who, as has been said, avoiding the land of romance, “have missed the title of fool at the cost of a celestial crown.”_

_Why should not Miss Thomasia in her faded dress, whom you shall meet, tell us, if she pleases, of her “dear father,” and of all her “dear cousins” to the remotest generation; and Dr. Cary and General Legaie quote their grandfathers as oracles, alongside the sages of Plutarch, and say “Sir” and “Madam” at the end of their sentences? Antiquated, you say? Provincial? Do you, young lady, observe Miss Thomasia the next time she enters a room, or addresses a servant; and do you, good sir, polished by travel and contact with the most fashionable—second-class—society of two continents, watch General Legaie and Dr. Cary when they meet Miss Thomasia, or greet the apple-woman on the corner, or the wagoner on the road. What an air suddenly comes in with them of old Courts and polished halls when all gentlemen bowed low before all ladies, and wore swords to defend their honor. What an odor, as it were, of those gardens which Watteau painted, floats in as they enter! Do not you attempt it. You cannot do it. You are thinking of yourself, they of others and the devoirs they owe them. You are republican and brought up to consider yourself “as good as any, and better than most.” Sound doctrine for the citizen, no doubt; but it spoils the bow. Even you, Miss or Madam, for all your silks and satins, cannot do it like Miss Thomasia. You are imitating the duchess you saw once, perhaps, in Hyde Park. The duchess would have imitated Miss Thomasia. You are at best an imitation; Miss Thomasia is the reality. Do not laugh at her, or call her provincial. She belongs to the realm where sincerity dwells and the heart still rules—the realm of old-time courtesy and high breeding, and you are the real provincial. It is a wide realm, though; and some day, if Heaven be good to you, you may reach it. But it must be by the highway of Sincerity and Truth. No other road leads there._

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. IN WHICH THERE ARE SEVERAL INTRODUCTIONS, 1

II. IN WHICH TWO STRANGERS VISIT RED ROCK AND ARE INVITED
TO COME AGAIN, 11

III. THE VISITORS START SOUTH AGAIN, AND THEIR FORMER HOSTS
GO TO MEET THEM, 33

IV. IN WHICH A LONG JUMP IS TAKEN, 49

V. DR. CARY RETURNS FROM THE WAR, AND TAKES AN INVENTORY
OF STOCK, 56

VI. A BROKEN SOLDIER COMES HOME FROM WAR, 63

VII. THE CARY CONFERENCE, 78

VIII. MR. HIRAM STILL TELLS HOW TO BRIDLE A SHY HORSE, AND
CAPTAIN ALLEN LAYS DOWN HIS HOE, 86

IX. MR. JONADAB LEECH TURNS UP WITH A CARPET-BAG AND OPENS
HIS BUREAU, 96

X. THE PROVOST MAKES HIS FIRST MOVE, 107

XI. THE PROVOST CATCHES A TARTAR, AND CAPTAIN MIDDLETON
SEEKS THE CONSOLATIONS OF RELIGION, 118

XII. CAPTAIN ALLEN TAKES THE OATH OF ALLEGIANCE AND
JACQUELIN GRAY LOSES HIS BUTTONS AND SOME OLD PAPERS, 139

XIII. STEVE ALLEN LEARNS MISS THOMASIA’S SECRET AND FORSWEARS
CARDS, 155

XIV. LEECH SECURES AN ORDER AND LOSES IT, 162

XV. CAPTAIN MIDDLETON HAS A TEST OF PEACE, AND IS ORDERED
WEST, 175

XVI. THE NEW TROOP MEETS THE ENEMY, 186

XVII. JACQUELIN GRAY GOES ON A LONG VOYAGE AND RED ROCK
PASSES OUT OF HIS HANDS, 195

XVIII. LEECH AS A STATESMAN AND DR. CARY AS A COLLECTOR OF
BILLS, 207

XIX. HIRAM STILL COLLECTS HIS DEBTS, 216

XX. LEECH LOOKS HIGHER AND GETS A FALL, 228

XXI. DR. CARY MEETS AN OLD COLLEGE MATE AND LEARNS THAT THE
ATHENIANS ALSO PRACTISE HOSPITALITY, 241

XXII. JACQUELIN GRAY COMES HOME AND CLAIMS A GRAVEYARD, 252

XXIII. TWO NEW RESIDENTS COME TO THE COUNTY, 264

XXIV. THE TRAVELLERS ARE ENTERTAINED IN A FARMHOUSE, 280

XXV. THE TRICK-DOCTOR, 289

XXVI. MAJOR WELCH AND RUTH BECOME RESIDENTS, 294

XXVII. HIRAM STILL GETS A LEGAL OPINION AND CAPTAIN ALLEN
CLIMBS FOR CHERRIES, 301

XXVIII. MRS. WELCH ARRIVES AND GIVES HER FIRST LESSON IN
ENTERPRISE, 320

XXIX. MRS. WELCH ENTERS THE HARVEST, 330

XXX. SOME OF THE GRAIN MRS. WELCH REAPED, 347

XXXI. JACQUELIN GRAY LEARNS THAT HE IS A FOOL, AND STEVE
ASTONISHES MAJOR WELCH, 365

XXXII. A CUT DIRECT AND A REJECTED ADDRESS, 385

XXXIII. BLAIR CARY SAVES A RIVAL SCHOOL, 398

XXXIV. LEECH AND STILL MAKE A MOVE, AND TWO WOMEN CHECK THEM, 410

XXXV. CAPTAIN ALLEN FINDS RUPERT AND BREAKS THE LAW, 422

XXXVI. MR. STILL OFFERS A COMPROMISE, AND A BLUFF, 436

XXXVII. IN WHICH IT IS SHOWN THAT, IN A TRIAL, COUNSEL MAY ASK
ONE QUESTION TOO MANY, 455

XXXVIII. IN WHICH MR. LEECH SPRINGS A TRAP WITH MUCH SUCCESS, 472

XXXIX. CAPTAIN ALLEN CLAIMS THE REWARD LEECH OFFERED, 500

XL. JACQUELIN GRAY AND ANDY STAMPER PAY AN OLD DEBT, 512

XLI. DR. CARY WRITES A LETTER TO AN OLD FRIEND, 521

XLII. CAPTAIN ALLEN SURRENDERS, 528

XLIII. MISS WELCH HEARS A PIECE OF NEWS, 538

XLIV. MIDDLETON REVISITS RED ROCK, AND AN OLD SOLDIER LAYS
DOWN HIS ARMS, 544

XLV. CAPTAIN ALLEN HAS AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR, 559

XLVI. THE OLD LAWYER DECLINES TO SURPRISE THE COURT, AND
SURPRISES LEECH, 572

XLVII. SOME OF THE THREADS ARE TIED, 579

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

SHE GAVE HIM A ROLLING-PIN AND HE SET TO WORK, _Frontispiece_

FACING
PAGE

AMONG THE COMPANY THAT NIGHT THERE WERE TWO GUESTS WHO
“HAPPENED IN” QUITE UNEXPECTEDLY, 14

THE GIRLS OF THE PLACE TURNED ASIDE, WHENEVER THEY MET THEM,
AND PASSED BY WITH THEIR HEADS HELD HIGH, 96

HE CARRIED OFF IN TRIUMPH A PAIR OF OLD HORSE-PISTOLS, 124

KU KLUX—“AWFUL FORMS WRAPPED LIKE GHOSTS IN WINDING-SHEETS,” 238

BEFORE HIM STOOD, TALL AND GRAY, THE INDIAN-KILLER, 262

“I COULDN’T LET YOU BE RUN AWAY WITH AGAIN UNDER MY VERY
EYES,” HE SAID, 328

STEVE STRETCHED, AND, PICKING UP HIS BOOK, DIVED ONCE MORE
INTO THE “IDYLLS OF THE KING,” 376

SHE GAVE A STEP FORWARD AND WITH A QUICK MOVEMENT PULLED THE
MASK FROM HIS FACE, 406

STILL SPRUNG TO HIS FEET IN UNCONTROLLABLE AGITATION, HIS FACE
LIVID, 464

AND THERE, IN THE LITTLE PARLOR, STEVE AND RUTH WERE MARRIED, 570

RED ROCK